Curse of Life, Miracle of Death
by Princess Hannah
Summary: Why can't Scott Barringer die? He has suffered numerous wounds that, to any ordinary person, should be fatal. And yet, he lives. What's Mr. Indestructable's big secret? A Crystal Journeys companion to Last of the Cliffhangers Unit.
1. The Seal of Unbreakable Vow

_Disclaimers 'n' crap: Haihai peeps! I know what you're all thinking: 'HOLY CRAP! HANNAH'S DOING ANOTHER CLIFFHANGERS UNIT FIC!' Well, sorta. I know I have a small fanbase from when I did Last of the Cliffhanger's Unit, and lately I've been wanting to do a little more with the wartime Cliffies. That'll come next chapter. This isn't a one-shot, but it's not very long, either. Believe me, I would LOVE to sit here and write the next part right now, but time constraints prevent me from doing so. And because this is the first time in MONTHS that I've sat down and REALLY wanted to scratch so creative itches, that REALLY sucks. So, for now, I present this. I only own Scott and Elaine. Everyone and everything else is MINE. Any resemblance to a Mary Sue is purely unintentional. I gave Scott an OC girlfriend for a reason. Enjoy!

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"Princess! Let me handle this one!" Scott yelled, trying to squash Hannah's protests early. She scowled anyway. Elaine grinned from the other side of the room. Scotty just _loved_ these battles, didn't he? She brandished her blade. Scott's bracelet glowed and formed two knives held by golden string. A tetsugan. He spun the blades and lunged. Elaine parried all of his attacks and made her target Scott's chest. Scott parried these attacks too. Pushing his weight against her blade, he jumped backwards into the air, clapped his hands together, and summoned a hailstorm of ice, his element, to bombard Elaine.

"You sonuva…" Elaine breathed before disappearing beneath Scott's attack. He turned to Hannah.

"See?" he said "Easy as always." Hannah was still scowling.

"Maybe a little _too_ easy…" she said. Suddenly, her eyes widened "_Scott! Look out!_" Scott whirled around just in time to see…Elaine burying her sword right below his left shoulder. Blood spewed everywhere, some from Scott's mouth as he coughed rigidly. Shocked, Hannah rushed forward, thinking _Oh man, I know Scott seems to be _incapable _of dying, but with all that blood loss…_

Without warning, Scott lifted his foot, covered in a curved spike of ice, and hit Elaine squarely in the head as well as the stomach, knocking her backwards and across the room. He collapsed, still bleeding profusely. Shocked, Hannah rushed to his side.

"Shining Heal!" she said, putting her hands on the boy's bloody spot and using her element, Light, to seal it. Temporarily, anyway. She glanced back at Elaine's motionless body "This won't hold forever." She was about to hoist Scott onto her shoulder so she could take him back to Royal Palace when she noticed something. Something odd and astonishing. Something was glowing dully on the back of Scott's right hand. Hannah's jaw dropped.

If this was what she thought it was, and she was pretty sure of that, then Scott didn't need immediate medical attention…because he wasn't physically capable of dying.

* * *

"When do you think he'll wake up?"

"I'm really not sure, Your Highness. Your teammates always seem to come around pretty quickly. So, what's the big emergency this time?"

"Look at his right hand."

"It seems to be fi…oh, good lord."

"Exactly."

"Where did he learn to perform that kind of magic? Why would he do this to himself? Does he _want_ to suffer more?"

"That's what _I'd_ like to know. So, if you don't mind, Dr. Sheldon, could you stop taking the words out of my mouth."

"Sorry, Your Highness."

The hospital room came back into Scott's focus quite fast. This was far from the first time he had lost consciousness during a battle and woken up here. What it _was_ the first time for, however, was waking up here to find Hannah glaring at him with something akin to contempt. He had received this look from her many times before, but never under _these _circumstances. At least, that's what he thought before the next conversation took place and he realized just how different this time was.

"Why'd you do this to yourself, Scott?" said Hannah.

"Do what to myself?" said Scott "Hannah, this isn't the first time I've passed out during a fight, you know."

"Oh, I know," said Hannah "But what I DIDN'T know was that…nergh…how do I explain this…WHY?"

"Why WHAT?" Scott yelled back, genuinely not understanding where Hannah was going with this.

"I'll just leave you two alone, then, shall I?" said Dr. Sheldon, inching towards the door.

"Go ahead," said Hannah and Scott, simultaneously. When the door was closed, they resumed their heated development.

"Seriously, Hannah, why what?" said Scott, in a slightly calmer voice.

"That mark on the back of your hand," said Hannah, regaining the same composure "Do you have any idea what that is?" Scott looked at that spot. There was nothing there. Then, summoned by his will alone, a seal appeared there. "The arrow-pierced circle and the unbroken chain," Hannah continued "This is a sacred vow mark. The person bearing it _cannot die_ until their vow has been fulfilled." Scott looked at it in astonishment.

"_I_ did this?" he gasped.

"You mean you don't remember?" said Hannah.

"I remember…" Scott paused, trying to collect his thoughts. The memories we vague and a bit unspecific, but they were there. "I remember vowing…that I would kill Elaine before I died, that she would go first. I made the vow, and then I blacked out!"

"The sincerity of one's heart is what sets the seal," said Hannah, then, breaking free of her philosophical frame of speech: "Scott, YOU'VE TEMPORARALLY IMORTALIZED YOURSELF!"

"I didn't mean to!" cried Scott "I mean, yes, I put some of my own blood on my hand to seal the deal for _myself_, but I didn't think that I was actually pulling off that kind of spell! Still…" The room became silent. A small grin unfolded on Scott's face. "Holy crap…" he breathed, coming to the realization "I can't die unless she dies…oh my god, I'll actually be able to pull this off!" Hannah was ready to scream another objection but restrained herself.

"Scott, you'll be in for a helluva lot of pain and suffering for this, you know that?" she said, reverting to her more traditional concerned-in-the-hospital tone "You won't be able to leave this plane of existence, so if you sustain what would be a mortal wound for a normal person, you can't just die and be relieved of the pain. You'll just have to sit and suffer until someone heals you or you heal yourself. Of course, there are some very serious injuries, like having a large piece of your chest cavity ripped out or something, that the seal should heal for you. But please don't use that as an excuse to do anything completely insane. You do enough of that already."

"Don't worry," said Scott, very seriously "I've taken a lot of pain in my life. In a way, I think I'm almost used to most of it now. I can handle this." Hannah's expression didn't change.

"Then why am I still worried?" she said.

"What'll I have to do to get you to _stop_ worrying?" said Scott.

"Could you at least smile…normally?" Scott did so.

"And don't worry about Michelle, either," he said "I'll tell her about this myself."

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_Like I said, the next chapter will take place during the war. I have every intention to go back and revise Cliffhanger's Unit to accommodate the upgrades (and also to edit out some stuff that I just don't think fits). Trust me, I REALLY WANT TO CONTINUE THIS ONE, BUT I DON'T HAVE TIME TONIGHT! Please review and maybe I can get my lazy ass back to MS Word by tomorrow._


	2. Philosophical Scott

_Disclaimers 'n' crap: Haihai peeps! Wow, I actually got back to this quicker than I thought! Yeah, I know I said last time that I might update the next day, but, trust me, this is a lot better than some of my other gaps. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Also, something important to take into account: I've been doing a lot of philosophical thinking about how ethics differ from story to story (and from the real world) in fantasy fiction. I've used this to create more motivation behind a lot of my major characters and it's also something I want to at least TRY to tweak in Last of the Cliffhanger's Unit because I can't help feeling that I made Elaine a little too one-dimensional in that. Of course, that fic wasn't meant to have much in the way of villain development. Okay, now I'm just rambling. Still own The Crystal Journeys, still own E-Max, still don't own any Higher Ground characters. Enjoy!

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**(About 24 Years Later)**

The echo of silence. The stench of blood. The carnage of death. The light footsteps of eight people walking across the battlefield. The E-Maxen Special Forces Unit. Codename: Cliffhangers.

"Remind me why we're out here again?" said Shelby, looking at the ghastliness of war that surrounded them on all sides "I thought the main recon units picked this area clean of survivors hours ago."

"Don't forget all the dead people," chirped Daisy, her voice bathed in dark sarcasm. It was true. While no bodies littered the ground, assorted weapon discharge and dark stains of blood in the evening light did.

"We need to reflect," said Scott "This is what war is like. People die. Even people like the E-Maxens who don't die just like that need to remember that life has its limits."

_Is it just me, or is he stealing my dialogue?_ Daisy thought.

_Wow,_ thought Juliette "Scott, you've really changed. You've become so serious about the philosophy of life. It's almost scary. Is this all because of that immortality mark?"

"Mostly, yes," said Scott "Because of it, I can't die like these people can when the pain and suffering become too much. Also, because _she's_ the one I have to kill to die, it binds me to Elaine in the strangest way, now that she also bears the seal. All those times I was in great pain, she's felt it too. It felt good to know that, but it isn't quite enough to make me want to deliberately hurt myself." He cracked a brief smile.

"So, basically," said Ezra "We could all die at any second, but since your evil ex-stepmom is still alive and kickin', you're just gonna suffer the whole time." Scott scowled.

"Not quite," said Scott "The seal keeps me going. Destroying Elaine is my ultimate goal. It's almost become my only purpose in life, getting my chance. Queen Hannah was actually the one who killed Elaine the first time…but that wasn't where I was going with this. Yeah, I'm protected by the seal. Yeah, Solidus once said 'We're all born with an expiration date. No one lasts forever.'. Yeah, that's true. But until then, we're all protected by something…until it's time."

"Okay," said Kat "Protected by…what?"

"It's one of the facts of living in this kind of world, animation-based, I mean," said Scott "Characters go through a crapload of hell, a lot of which _should_ kill them, and then they eventually get killed off by _something_. While this seal indefinitely keeps me from dying, in a way…I think part of it could be protecting you, too." He stood there, lost in his own words. Just…gazing. This happened to him sometimes.

"Well, if that's true…" said Shelby from a few yards behind him. Scott listened for the rest of the sentence for a couple seconds, but it didn't come. He turned around.

Shelby was holding a knife to her throat.

"_SHELBY NO!_"

There were several simultaneous gasps.

_Slit_

And blood spilled everywhere.

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_Just to clarify, the only reason that Elaine has the seal too is BECAUSE she's the one who has to die to fulfill Scott's vow. That's it. She's not immortal or anything. She's just marked. Another thing, for those of you who don't know, Solidus is from Metal Gear Solid 2. Believe me, I WANTED to try to get through this one without doing any major crossovers, but his input is important in the next chapter. At least, I hope it will be when I write it. Some random love for Solidus kinda bloomed out of nowhere and he's become one of my alltime favorite MGS characters. Yeah, I ended this with a cliffhanger (is shot for horrible pun). Maybe I'll go write the next chapter now… _


	3. Putting a Price on Life?

_Disclaimers 'n' Crap: Haihai peeps! (looks back) Wow, this one is kinda long. You can probably tell where I was in my best writing frame of mind here. You can also probably tell that I might be taking this whole thing with bringing the Cliffhangers back for the war a little too seriously. Umm…yeah. Usual disclaimers apply. Enjoy!

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"I can't believe she pulled a stunt like that," gasped Scott at the medical center later "What if she _had_ died?"

"Look, beet," said Auggie "The main thing is, she ain't dead. She just gave us all one helluva scare." Juliette looked at the cutting scars on her arms with guilt. Scott still didn't look reassured.

"Scott," said Daisy, finally, grabbing Scott's shoulders "_She's going to live._" There was a few moments pause. Yes, she was going to live. There was that strange aura that protected all of them. At least, until it was _their time_.

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Sigh.

That was all that echoed through the room.

Sigh.

And then there was a knock.

"Your Highness, may I come in?"

"…Sure."

The door opened. Solidus Snake, known officially as George Sears, stepped in. His expression was one of deep concern. He turned to Queen Hannah, sitting by herself in the darkness. Thinking. Contemplating. Philosophizing, probably. "You're still thinking about it, aren't you," Solidus said, simply.

"After that stunt Shelby pulled this afternoon, of course I am," said Hannah. There was more silence. An ordinary person, at this point, would wish for just about any sound: a drop of water, the low hum of a computer, _anything_, if just to end the eeriness. Solidus had watched Hannah for many years and had gotten used to this eerie silence that usually was usually followed by one of her big philosophical rants. He didn't wish for the creepy to cease. He just went right along with it. He waited quietly for the queen to proceed, which she did with The Big Question: "Solidus, why did I bring them here?"

"You're still asking yourself that," said Solidus, a bit dismissively "Hannah, I thought we'd already sorted this out: you were young and Scott was becoming a great friend to you. You, and most of the others, didn't want to see him go after such a short time so you did what you've done with all of the Crystal Alliance members from other worlds whose series had ended. You brought them back here to stay because you _loved_ them. You had no idea that Scott would become so corrupted back then! You had no idea that Elaine would come back and destroy him all over again! Are you still blaming yourself for everything that's happened to him since he came here?"

"Dammit, Solidus, THAT'S NOT MY POINT," said Hannah, starting to lose it "I wasn't talking about Scott specifically. I was talking about his whole unit! The Cliffhangers! Why did I bring them here? To fight? To die? They'll only survive until they've served their purpose! What is that purpose, Solidus? To suffer more? They've been through enough already in their own world! Am I that heartless that part of me doesn't exactly care whether the Cliffhangers Unit dies or not? I…I can't…" Lost for more words, she stopped trying to hold back the tears of confusion.

Solidus put an understanding arm around her. He too knew what it was like to take pawns, human pawns, pawns with lives, use them, and let them be thrown away without much care once they'd served their purpose. But still, if there was something in that field that separated Hannah from him, it was that she felt more immediate remorse for those actions. In his old days, Solidus had watched subordinates die and hadn't cared until much later when he himself had been granted a second chance at life. When Hannah hurt someone, it started to tear her up right there.

"My Queen," he said "You _do_ care. When the Cliffhangers are gone and Scott is all that remains, you will mourn them with him. I know you will. But right now, you're going on as if they're only going to live to see the penultimate battle of the war." Hannah looked up at him slowly. There was something disturbing and ominous about her gaze.

"They _will_ die there," she said, filling the room with a chilling air "I have forseen it."

The door opened again, breaking the eerie stillness at last.

"Your Highness, Mr. Sears," said the man. Hannah wiped her face and regained composure as fast as she could.

"Minister of Finance Finnegan Dutch," she said "What is it?"

"We need to talk," said Minister Dutch "About finances concerning the Cliffhangers Unit." Hannah paused, thoroughly confused.

"Excuse me…_what_?" she said. Minister Dutch chuckled slightly before speaking three very shocking words:

"Name your price."

"WHAT?" Hannah nearly shrieked.

"How much do you want to be reimbursed for the unit when they're gone?" Hannah just stood there, gaping. Was she really hearing this? "I was listening to your conversation with Mr. Sears a moment ago and it seems that you know quite well that the Cliffhangers are not going to survive this war. I am asking you how much money you would like in compensation when we lose them."

"_Are you asking me to put a price on the Cliffhangers Unit?_" Hannah bellowed "Those eight are _far beyond _fiscal numbers! Furthermore, they're living human beings that _you_ seem to think are _little inanimate playthings_ that can have_ insurance _put on them! Minister Dutch, how can you be so _heartless_?"

"I wouldn't call it heartlessness," said Minister Dutch, calmly "I'm just doing my job and trying to be reasonable with you about this. We all know how directly money is involved in war and that the Cliffhangers are expendable like every other soldier out there. Now, how much was invested in training the unit?"

"There was no money invested in their training," said Solidus, starting to have enough of this "My brother and my former foster son took them to training on their own with the support of the E-Maxen royals and M.A.R.S. Program."

"M.A.R.S. Program is an over-blown science laboratory," said Minister Dutch "They are irrelevant to this war."

"_Their technology has saved the lives of MILLIONS in this war! How DARE you deem them irrelevant!_" Hannah screamed "_Also, THEY'RE the ones who brought the Cliffhangers here in the FIRST PLACE!_"

"You're moving further and further away from the numbers," said Minister Dutch, astoundingly able to keep his cruel cool this whole time. Hannah tried desperately not to explode while Solidus looked on in shock.

"Minister Dutch," Hannah breathed, quietly "Get out."

"Pardon me?" said Minister Dutch.

"You are herby charged with corruption and shall be tried by the people to judge whether or not you stay in office," said Hannah, in her most official voice "Now, _leave_." Pouting, Minister Dutch whirled around and stormed out of the room. There was silence once more. Solidus slowly turned to Hannah.

"You see?" he said "I was right. You _do_ care. And it could be worse! You could be like him." Hannah was quiet for a moment.

"You're right," she said at last "Actually, that makes me feel a lot better."

**The End?

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_Woot! Not only was I able to make Solidus' input more relevant than I originally thought, but I was able to transition from the conversation with him to the conversation with Minister Dutch a lot easier, theme-wise. Sooooooo, yeah. If I do another Higher Ground fic (which I probably will), it'll explain what Solidus meant by "Scott becoming corrupt" and what Scott was talking about in Cliffhangers Unit with him becoming brain damaged and killing people when Elaine came back. There will be LOTS of Naruto-inspired content in it. Well, until then, someone PLEASE force me to write more of Back In Britain!_


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